Schools deal with problem as old as gum and slingshots

When Twin Cities-area students return to school this year, their teachers won't just be watching their homework. They'll also be on guard for items that have no business in a classroom.

Students who intend to listen to an iPod, pull out a deck of Hannah Montana Go-Fish cards, play a Playstation Portable, wear T-shirts with naughty phrases or glide down the hallway in roller-skate shoes should be prepared to get in trouble.

For teachers and principals, the drill is the same every year. Only the stuff changes.

"It's frustrating," said Sharon Ornelas, a teacher at Edison High School in Minneapolis. "If we didn't have to scan the room for that stuff we could go further with student learning."

In hopes of heading kids off before they come back to school, several metro-area districts including Minneapolis, St. Paul, Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan, Northfield, Montgomery-Lonsdale and Robbinsdale are using open houses and school handbooks to remind parents about clothing and gadgets that should stay at home.

"I don't think they mean any harm by it," said Jocelyn Sims, principal of St. Paul's Battle Creek Middle School. But it is distracting. "It's not a huge issue, but it happens throughout the year."

Metro school officials said it's difficult to know which items will turn up in class because many of the hot items -- for instance "Heelys" or roller skate shoes -- change each year.

Kim Hiel, principal of Robbinsdale's Meadow Lake Elementary School, said teachers move quickly to confiscate the wheels from roller-skate shoes to prevent accidents. Schools in California, Indiana and Texas have adopted similar measures.

"I wouldn't be surprised if every school district in the state banned them," Hiel said. "It's like roller skating down the hallway."

Arguments in the making

The unwanted items are rarely hidden. In elementary school, students often bring toys to share them with friends.

But what happens next, teachers say, is that electronic games, music players and toys turn up at the center of arguments ("Anna took my Hannah Montana cards!") or they get lost or stolen and a kid is heartbroken.

"All we can say is we're sorry," Sims said.

Tonya Larsen teaches second grade at Meadow Lake Elementary and said she plans to remind parents about the policies and ask them to check students' backpacks each morning during the New Hope school's open house next week.

"There's plenty here to keep them engaged," Larsen said.

Cell phones on playgrounds

Meanwhile, mainstays like cell phones can't be banned, so they have to be managed.

Once the property of older students, they have recently found their way into first- and second-grade classrooms. Larsen said more of her 7- and 8-year-olds own or borrow cell phones.

"What I'm seeing lately is that parents are giving them to kids for safety reasons," she said.

Hiel said schools realize cell phones help ease parents' minds during emergencies. But there must be limits.

"We've had parents call kids during the school day and kids call their parents from out on the playground," she said.

For middle and high schools, cell phones have been an issue since the mid-1990s when characters from the iconic teen movie "Clueless" answered their phones at school.

Since then, more high-tech phones, such as BlackBerrys, and high-pitched ring tones adults can't hear have emerged. But the rules haven't changed: Turn them off during school.

"We understand it's the time and age of cell phones," Sims said. "I only have a cell phone [not a landline]. But you're not going to have it [ringing] in class with you."

Northfield and Montgomery-Lonsdale school districts recently tightened their cell phone policies. Northfield High School students previously could use cell phones between classes and during lunch, but not anymore. This fall, phones must be put away until the end of the school day, said Principal Joel Leer.

Montgomery-Lonsdale Middle and High School officials dealt with 114 cell phone violations last year. And most of the calls or texts weren't related to emergencies.

"It was by far the biggest behavioral thing we dealt with [last year]," Principal Alan Fitterer said. "I'm glad it's not 114 knives or weapons, but they are just a nuisance. It is just constant."

Montgomery-Lonsdale students who violate the policy will pay $15-$25 in fines or school officials will confiscate the phone for up 15-25 days. The money will be put into the class activity account to pay for prom and other events.

T-shirts, hoodies, etc., etc.

Dress code policies can change almost as often as fashions change. Northfield just updated its policy.

"Breasts need to be covered. No sagging pants. No 'short' shorts," said Joel Leer, principal of Northfield High School.

Most schools ban T-shirts with risqué or drug-related messages, sagging pants, hoodies, chains, hats, bandanas and anything that doesn't cover undergarments.

"I know everyone wears hoodies today, but it's a way for kids to hide. They try to retreat in there," said Ornelas, of Edison High.

Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan School District 196 recently mailed its 2008-09 student conduct handbook. The Minneapolis district distributes the handbooks during the first week of classes or when students pick up their class schedules.

Still, there are always a few incidents. Juniors at Eagan High School caused a stir last spring when they ordered T-shirts that said "Kiss Our Class Goodbye -- 09." Get it?

Eagan High school officials didn't laugh. They responded with e-mails to parents to remind them about the district's conduct policies.

Most metro-area school dress codes outline punishments that get harsher after each incident, including a phone call home or parent conference (and changing their clothes), detention (and changing their clothes) and eventually suspension.

"Parents can help by supporting the school and supporting the teachers and encouraging students to not bring [or wear these items] to school," Ornelas said. "And if it gets confiscated, don't get upset about it."

Staff reporter Sarah Lemagie contributed to this report.

Patrice Relerford • 612-673-4395